HAMILTON — The Trenton High and Hamilton High West varsity girls’ basketball teams have been searching for their winning way this season. After losses Friday, only one of them was going to satisfy that quest Saturday when they met in the Neil A. Bencivengo Gymnasium. The Tornadoes did not let th eir visit to the Hornets’ Nest get spoiled when they came up with their second win of the week, 47-14, after slipping past Bard in the Shani Baraka MLK Classic Monday. Those wins for Trenton (5-9) bookended a two-game downslide, while Hamilton West (3-12) is trying to snap a 10-game losing streak. “Our energy was there today, which was the biggest difference,” said Tornadoes’ 5-foot-10 sophomore forward Emari Herbert Wheeler, who had six points and a team-high 10 rebounds. “We were taking our time on offense, and we were locking up on defense.” Things clicked for head coach Ryan Witter’s squad after the Hornets’ 5-3 junior guard Kyara Castro Gamboa scored inside midway through the first quarter to cut the visitors’ lead to 8-4. From there, Trenton went on a 24-0 rally that did not end until Hamilton’s senior captain Kimani Harlan hit a pair of free throws with 4:17 left in the third quarter. “We’ve got to get hungry. We’ve got to want it,” said Harlan, who had her usual steady defensive game for head coach Rob Farina’s club with 14 rebounds, seven blocked shots and four steals. “(The Tornadoes) made adjustments today. They penetrated. They kicked the ball out. We didn’t adjust as well. We kind of shied away.” After Harlan’s foul shots, Hamilton West played better in the third quarter, scoring eight points, but so did Trenton, which had its best stanza, scoring 23 points. Tornadoes’ 5-5 senior guard Angelie Pacheco topped all scorers in the game with 15 points, nine of those in the third quarter. Saniya Presha, another 5-10 sophomore forward, backed her with nine points off the bench, six of those in the third stanza. The Hornets, meanwhile, were led by four points from Castro Gamboa and her classmate Jurieliz “Juju” Vargas Gutierrez. “We have to keep our energy up, and we have to play as a team,” Herbert Wheeler said when asked how their success can continue. “There have been ups and downs,” Harlan said of being captain of a very young team. “It’s been more fun than not. But I still have to spread life into them.” Both teams hope to shoot for a win again Tuesday when Trenton hosts Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division foe Hopewell Valley and Hamilton visits CVC Valley Division opponent Allentown. TRENTON (47) Pacheco 4-7-15, Phelps 2-0-6, Brown-Johnson 1-0-3, AJackson 1-1-4, ASingletary 1-2-4, Baylor-Armstrong 0-0-0, Presha 4-1-9, Herbert Wheeler 3-0-6, Pomales 0-0-0. Totals — 16-11-47. HAMILTON WEST (14) Harlan 0-2-2, Vargas Gutierrez 1-1-4, Castro Gamboa 2-0-4, Vanselous 0-1-1, Onorati 0-0-0, King 1-1-3, McCabe 0-0-0, AdSmith 0-0-0, AiSmith 0-0-0, Carthan 0-0-0. Totals — 4-5-14. Trenton (5-9)                              10    10    23    4    —    47 HamiltonWest(3-12)                     4      0      8    2    —    14 3-point goals — Phelps 2, Brown-Johnson, AJackson (T), Vargas Gutierrez (HW). ...read more read less